Thursday, October 7, 2010

Samuel Butler (1835-1902)

The Way of All Flesh

  • semi-autobiographical novel attacking Victorian-era hypocrisy
  • traces 4 generations of the Pontifex family
  • represents diminishment of religious outlook from Calvinistic approach

Erewhon
  • an anagram for "Nowhere"
  • satire of Victorian soicety
  • based on Butler's own experiences in New Zealand
  • Erewhon appears at first to be a utopia but it soon becomes clear that this is far from the case
  • satirizes criminal punishment, religion and anthropocentrism
  • offenders are treated as if they were ill, whilst the ill are looked upon as criminals
  • there are no machines in Erewhon as they are considered to be dangerous as they might develop consciousness and supersede mankind

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